Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone had his big break as Rocky Balboa in the 1976 film that follows the small-time boxer who gets the opportunity to challenge the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. The film, which was written by the lead actor himself after watching the championship match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, has since turned into a successful franchise.
While he reportedly completed the film’s script within three and a half days the initial narrative significantly differed from the final on-screen version. In the new Netflix documentary, Sly, the actor revealed that he made some changes to the character after a friend told him that Rocky Balboa was too cruel.
Sylvester Stallone Revealed He Made Changes to Rocky
Sylvester Stallone’s latest documentary features him looking back at some of his iconic characters, including Rambo and Rocky. As per Deadline, the actor also revealed that the role of Rocky was quite different. Considering he was inspired by Martin Scorsese’s Mean Street, he initially wrote him as a “thuggish” character.
However, he decided to alter the character based on feedback from a friend who tearfully told him, “I hate Rocky. I hate him. He’s cruel. He hits people. He beats them up.” He then asked his friend for suggestions on how he could make the character more empathetic.
“I said, ‘What if you stop short of it?’ Like, maybe he almost did. He could have that’s his job, but he doesn’t?” he recalled discussing with the friend, during which he also suggested Rocky could have a girlfriend to enhance his likability.
“I said, ‘What if he had a girlfriend or something?’ ‘Yeah, that’s nice.’ So I go back, start writing that: ‘Girlfriend. Nice,’” he recalled. After several changes, Stallone added Adriana Pennino’s character as Rocky’s love interest, portrayed by Talia Shire in the franchise.